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Kathmandu to Namo Buddha Biking

Namo Buddha or Takmo Lujin is a very sacred place for the Buddhists. The Stupa situated just off to the downtown Kathmandu is visited by scores of pilgrims every year. There is a legend behind the reverence of this place. According to the Buddhist legend, the King Mahasattva gave his body to a hungry tigress at this place. His reliquary Stupa remained underground for centuries. One day a hermit called Bhagavan (Sakyamuni) came to this site and got attracted to the bulge. It is said that he clapped his hands, and miraculously the Stupa appeared.

Efforts have been made to examine more deeply, the validity of Tag-molussbyin's claim, which was a hermit in medieval time; that this is the same place that has been mentioned in the Jataka Stories. Going by this legend, this Stupa enshrines the bones and hair of the Buddhist hermit who died practicing the deeds of a Bodhisattva. He was moved to such pity at seeing a tigress, ravaged by hunger and about to devour a small boy, that he sacrificed his body to her.

Even now, in this place there is such fear of the tiger that the people do not utter the real name of the Stupa. Since in Buddhism it is believed, that to speak the name of the Buddha is to be free from fear the Nepalese call this place Namo Buddha! If you ask for directions to the Stupa, never ever utter the real name or no one will answer you. The local people will not understand you if you ask for Takmo Lujin; you must ask for Namo Buddha." Namo Buddha is one of the principal places of pilgrimage for the Lama Tibetans.